Here are my financial goals now that I am out of credit card debt.
1. Save. I got out of debt with really nothing of an emergency fund. (I wouldn’t recommend this, but this is how I did it.) $10,000 is the goal I have in mind. That’s about 6 months worth of expenses. I’d like to accomplish this by the end of 2011. That’s a pretty doable goal and will also allow me to save for other things like travel.
2. Work less. It is tempting to keep working 15 hour days, because I can do it and it would mean reaching all of my financial goals very quickly, but I don’t want to. I want more time to be a student and more time to be a human being. This means quitting one of my jobs.
3. Retirement. This is kind of embarrassing, but I’ve been saving for my retirement for a couple years now and I have no idea what I am doing. However my employer originally signed me up is exactly how it has remained and whenever I receive a statement, I look at it like it’s written in another language and then I put it away. There are counselors we can meet with, but I’ve put off doing so until I paid off my debt. I don’t have a retirement savings goal in mind yet, but I do want to figure out what I’m doing.
4. Student Loans. Ah, yeah, those. I’m not really out of debt at all. I have a ton more still to pay off. I’m several years from graduation, so my loans are not yet in repayment. I want to have a solid emergency fund in place and then I’ll dig in on the student loans. I will be paying on them for quite a while, but not forever like I once thought.
{ 2 comments }
sounds like you have a plan. you can do it.
I read ALL of your archives yesterday, and I am so impressed by what you’ve accomplished. You’re such an inspiration to me. I have never had credit card debt, but this year I am going to rebuild my emergency fund almost from scratch after a really large tax bill that I should have done a better job of anticipating. My goal is also $10,000, and I have a similar monthly income (as well as some student loans), so it’s good to know there is someone else out there with similar numbers.
Many many congratulations on eliminating your credit card debt. I”m glad you could cap off your debt elimination with an awesome trip! Yeah!
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